In Process: Most Ambitious Art Installation Ever Attempted at Monterey Museum of Art

Ingrid Calame, ArcelorMittal Steel Shipping Building One, No. 233, 2009, oil on aluminum, courtesy of the artist and the James Cohan Gallery, New York

MONTEREY, CA.- This is the most complex installation weve ever attempted at the Museum, says Monterey Museum of Art Chief Curator Marcelle Polednik of the execution of artist Ingrid Calames site-specific wall drawing at the Monterey Museum of Art-La Mirada. The MMAs new exhibition season opens Saturday, October 30, 2010 and its all-hands-on-deck to complete the work. A preview party with Ingrid Calame will be held Friday, October 29th, 6-8 pm.

Ingrid Calame a premier contemporary artist created the large-scale, site-specific drawing that will exist for the duration of the exhibition, after which it will be painted over. She completed the drawing on sheets of paper pricked with tiny holes (cartoons). The paper was then attached to the gallery walls and pounced (beaten on the paper by hand) with dry pigment. The holes in the paper permit the pigment to seep through, thereby transferring the drawing from the paper onto the gallery wall. A team of individuals (MMA staff and a specialist from Los Angeles) executed this process. Many problems had to be worked out in advance and in great detail. The main gallery at MMA La Mirada was sealed off to protect the building and collections from the airborne pigment. Protective clothing and respirators were required for anyone in the contained area and a temporary system had to be rigged to provide fresh air. Moreover, the wall surface had to be sealed, which necessitated securing a faux finish specialist to spray multiple coats of varnish to the drawing surface. The completed image, titled Perry Street Projects Wading Pool, Buffalo, New York, 2010, pigment on wall is 458 x 280 inches (1163.32 x 711.2 cm).

Works on a somewhat smaller scale are also part of the In Process: Ingrid Calame exhibition such as Ingrid Calame, ArcelorMittal Steel Shipping Building One, No. 233, 2009, oil on aluminum, courtesy of the artist and the James Cohan Gallery, New York.

Executive Director E. Michael Whittington says, This is the most ambitious project attempted by the artist and taken on by this Museum. It is a tribute to our talented team of problem solversled by Marcelle Polednikand will be a source of pride for all of us connected with the magnificent results.

In addition to this exciting In Process exhibition, three additional presentations will occur at La Mirada: a loan exhibition of prints by Chinese-American artist Hung Liu, Day of the Dead Figures from Mexico and a stunning exhibition of graphic arts by Miró, Matisse & Picasso.